TheatreZone's final production of the season is a revival of Caryl Churchill's 1982 partially absurdist response to Britain's turn to the right and Margaret Thatcher. "Top Girls" takes its title from the employment agency where the main character, Marlene, played by Danielle Fauteux Jaques, plys her trade. But the play starts with a fantasy diner where she hosts the rest of the cast as powerful woman from the literary past, most of them fictional. Brigid O'Connor arrives as Isabella Bird, a Victorian world-traveller and journalist. Maria T. Shaedler appears next as Lady Nijo, a 13th century Japanese courtesan and Buddhist nun, who published her "Confessions." Becca A. Lewis shows up next as Dull Gret(Mad Meg) from Breugel's painting of peasants harrowing Hell. Ann Carpenter graces the scene as Pope Joan, the probably mythical female pontiff from the 9th century. After these five engage in overlapping conversation introducing their backgrounds, Elizabeth Burnette appears as Patient Griselda, a fairytale character used by Boccaccio, Petrach, and Chaucer. Throughout this symposium, Alison Linker patiently waits table and supplies Marlene's reorders of wine and brandy.
This 30 minute prologue is interesting if somewhat inconclusive, the kind of playwriting that reads better than it plays. This cast keeps the scene flowing, from their entrances to its enigmatic conclusion. A more dreamlike presentation might help, perhaps in the lighting. There is one candle on the table. The play continues at the Top Girls office, with the actresses from the previous act metamorphosed into employees and job seekers. Marlene remains the boss, interviewing Schaedler who'd like to travel. Burnette appears in the next scene the office party girl, joined by Schaedler as Nell, another bright young thing. The locale shifts to a lowerclass suburban back yard where Lewis as Angie, a slow teenager, is playing with Kit, a younger friend, played by Linker. O'Connor becomes Angie's mom, Joyce. The two have serious issues. Back at the office, Carpenter shows up as an older woman manager looking for a more interesting position. O'Connor in a third role then confronts Marlene as the wife of the distraught man whose position she's due to take over. Linker next appears as Shona, a young job seeker with a spurious resume. The act ends when Angie shows up to see Marlene, her aunt. She's come up to London for a job. Something's obviously going on, beyond the theoretical issues of the prologue and the fluidity of the cast.
Act 3 offers a solution, perhaps. It's a year earlier. Marlene is visiting Angie, her "niece" and her sister, Joyce in their meager home. She's brought Angie an expensive dress which she put on earlier in the second act. Marlene hasn't been back for at least five years. She got out seeking success; Joyce, whose husband has left, cleans houses for a living. After Angie is sent to bed, the truth suggested earlier comes out. Angie is Marlene's child, left with her sister who wasn't able to have children. Talk turns political. Marlene supports Thatcher and the measures necessary to create prosperity; Joyce sees that the working class won't necessarily be part of their new order. Both realize that there's little future for Angie, who was left sleeping at a desk in the Top Girls office at the end of the middle act and who appears at the end of the play sleepwwalking. The question persists; did she do something desperate before her trip up to the City?
The show is adequately produced against an abstract movable backdrop designed by Julie Noulin-Merat with suitable furniture and props. Marcela Jaramillo's costumes provide much of the visual interest. Atissa Banuazzi's direction keeps things moving along with a solid ensemble. Lighting might be improved with top hats and barn doors to control spill, but everything can be seen clearly. This play has developed new resonances since its inception in '80s England. Questions of gender inequality persist, particularly on the world scene. And the consequences of personal choices remain the root of drama. The tension between individualism and a more socially responsible worldview is as usual in the background of Churchill's work.